Gov. Brown appoints six to California Court of Appeal

Gov. Jerry Brown appointed six justices to the state's Courts of Appeal on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Gov. Jerry Brown appointed six people to be justices on the state's 1st and 2nd District Courts of Appeal, according to a statement issued Saturday.

James Humes, a former deputy state attorney general and 54-year-old San Francisco resident who served as Brown's secretary of legal affairs, will now serve as presiding justice in Division 1 of the 1st District Court of Appeal.

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FOR THE RECORD

An earlier version of this post identified Frances Rothschild as a man. She is a woman.

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Therese Stewart, a 57-year-old deputy city attorney in San Francisco who has argued for marriage equality before the Supreme Court, was appointed as a judge in Division 2 of the 1st District, the release said.

Brown also made four judicial appointments in the 2nd District. Frances Rothschild, 73, was named as the presiding justice for Division 1 in the district, where she has served as an associate justice since 2005. Lee Edmon, a 58-year-old Los Angeles County Superior Court judge, was named presiding justice in Division 3 of the district.

A pair of once-prominent Los Angeles legal figures were also appointed on Saturday. Brian Hoffstadt, a 43-year-old former Los Angeles County Superior Court judge and senior counsel to the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles, and Audrey Collins, a 69-year-old who served as an assistant district attorney and chief federal district court judge in Los Angeles County, were both named to the 2nd District.

Each position grants an annual salary of $207,463, according to the release. Each candidate must now await approval from the state Commission on Judicial Appointments.